


in the beginning

by almondmark



Series: urbanct [3]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, chenle's parents are kind of mean but they're politicians so it's expected, gets a little angsty at the end but nothing to worry about, jaemin wants money and he deserves it honestly, jisung is shy, that doesn't make it better though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 15:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14381976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/almondmark/pseuds/almondmark
Summary: the first time chenle sort of goes to the city on his own.





	in the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> this, like every story in this series has been and will be, was based on tumblr user [@rxnjuns](http://rxnjuns.tumblr.com) [urbanct](http://rxnjuns.tumblr.com/tagged/urbanct) au  
> hope you enjoy!

chenle didn’t live in the city. in fact, he wasn’t even allowed to go without his parents or one of their bodyguards. when they did go, chenle never got to stop at the food trucks or to watch the buskers or look at graffiti, which, for some reason, was usually on city hall. his parents never let him get street food because “you don’t know if these people wash their hands or have their meat fda approved.” chenle was pretty sure that wasn’t true, but he never said anything about it, and it never stopped him from asking every time they went.

it took months of begging and numerous failed attempts at bribing the maids to help him sneak out for his parents to finally say _yes, you can go chenle,_ but only if he took a bodyguard and if he promised to call the police if he got lost or, god forbid, caught up in something that could put him in danger.

“the police are only a phone call away, chenle, and they’ll be there within seconds of hearing the surname ‘zhong.’” he knew. that’s what they told him when he started middle school. and high school. as far as he knew, they didn’t know about a lot of the stuff that went down at school. they couldn’t; he had been trying his hardest to keep it from them. 

“bodyguard and policemen,” he sighed. “got it.”

he’d like to say that for how concerned to be, they watched him walk to the car, and keep watching until the car got to the end of the road. they didn’t even watch him walk to the door. 

chenle did not expect his first time in the inner city to be so _boring_. it didn’t help that the bodyguard that went with him had no personality. at least when he came with his parents he could actually have a nice conversation. the guard just followed him into shops and handed him his parent’s credit cards. chenle’s parents had to be incredibly paranoid about letting him out on his own, because his phone buzzed every twenty minutes and the bodyguard never let anyone hand him anything. at least he’ll finally get his food truck lunch. it had only taken a new rolex to get the bodyguard to agree to that one. and he had to try it first. chenle decided he could wait a few seconds more for the food he’s waited for for months.

“hi,” said the boy in the food truck. “what can i get for you?”

“i’ll have two orders of hotteok and two bottles of water,” chenle looked away from the menu and directed his gaze toward the boy. he was looking at him like he was trying to figure out if he had seen chenle before, and if he had, where. “please.” 

“two bottles of water and two orders of hotteok coming right up,” he smiled. he turned and yelled the order to whomever was in the truck - he was alone - got the water and set to work on the hotteok. chenle and the guard waited for all of five minutes to get their food. “here ya go. have a nice day.” the boy’s smile was like looking into the sun. 

“thank you! you have a nice day as well.” chenle paid for their lunch and he and the guard sat on a nearby bench. the guard tried the hotteok, and insisted on tasting the water despite it not being open. halfway through their meal, he decided he had to use the bathroom.

“do not leave this bench. not even to throw your garbage away. i’ll be back in five minutes. remember, the police are-“

“a phone call away, i know.” chenle rolled his eyes. the bodyguard pretended not to notice. when the guard was out of sight, chenle got up to throw away the little bowl the hotteok had been in. 

“hey.” chenle’s head shot up. the food truck boy was talking to him. “your clothes look too expensive for you to be living around here.”

“oh..?” chenle cocked his head to left, frowning a little. “well, i don’t live around here. i live in the suburbs.”

food truck boy rolled his eyes like he knew that already. “those rich kids don’t usually hang around here. or stop for hotteok.” chenle knew that. rich kids made fun of other kids for working. for having food trucks. for anything, really. he had been on the receiving end a few times. 

“the hotteok was good though,” muttered chenle, looking at the ground. “and i had to ask a million times to get my parents to let me come.”

“that guy isn’t your dad? are you being abducted?”

“no, i’m not being abducted. that guy is a bodyguard. my parents wouldn’t let me come alone. honestly, i thought my first time in the city without my parents dragging me around would be more interesting.”

“i don’t see your bodyguard anywhere.” the boy stepped out of the truck and walked toward chenle. “run away.” 

“are you kidding me? my parents would have my head.”

“i’m pretty sure your parents would have your apple watch.” chenle shoved his hands in his pockets. “maybe if they really wanted to lay down the law they’d slap your wrist and give you a firm ‘no.’ i’m donghyuck, by the way. my family owns the food truck.”

“chenle zhong. my parents are politicians.”

“of course they are. anyway, if you wanna get your exciting day in, i’d run away before your bodyguard gets back. my friends are dancing on fifth street if you need somewhere to run to.”

“dancing?” chenle asked. 

“yes. dancing. they dance in the street and sometimes people pay them. well, donate their change is closer to what they actually get.”

“i guess i’ll go there then. which way is fifth street?” donghyuck pointed past the truck with a raised eyebrow. chenle ran. harder than he had ever run for pe. “thank you! it was nice meeting you, donghyuck!”

he was two blocks away when his phone started to ring. he was halfway down the third when he realized it wouldn’t stop. he shut off the watch. he didn’t want to stop to take his phone out to turn it off, so he’d just wait until he reached fifth. 

he heard the music before he got there. if he didn’t run faster he’d probably miss the rest of it. he took a deep breath and probably ran faster then usain bolt until he reached the crowd. he didn’t know how many people were standard in street performance crowds, but he had to push people out of the way to get to the front. and what he saw was mesmerizing, and completely worth the strain of the run. three boys around his age moving in perfect sync with each other and the music. chenle couldn’t look away. he didn’t understand how people ever passed these things, or didn’t just give them every cent they had. all too soon, the performance was over. people walked away, most of them not even dropping change in the jar the boys set on the ground. chenle realized that was probably the last dance they were doing right then, because one of them turned off the speaker and another went to see how much money they made. before he knew what he was doing, he was digging out his wallet and handing the boy that picked up the jar nearly a hundred dollars.

all three boys looked at chenle like he was crazy, and chenle was half tempted to take the money back, but he already offered it to the boy. he didn’t realize how much taller the boy was than him until, all of a sudden, chenle’s face was in his shoulder and the boy’s arms were around him like a vice grip. the third boy grabbed the money from chenle and hurried to pick up what fell out of the jar when the tall boy dropped it.

“jisung, i think you should let him go,” the one who picked up the speaker said. what chenle could see of him looked like he didn’t trust chenle a whole lot. maybe it was the “too fancy” clothes he was wearing. 

“oh,” the boy - jisung said. “right. thank you. you didn’t need to give us that much though,” he said. he was standing at least three and a half feet from chenle now. 

“it’s nothing!” chenle beamed. “you guys deserved it anyway. you’re all really good.” all three of them got shy. 

“well,” said the one who took the money from him, “we dance here every weekend. if you’re gonna keep giving us this much anyway.”

“jaemin!” speaker boy hissed. “that’s rude!” jaemin just shrugged and put the money in the jar. chenle wondered how much he actually did give them. “thank you. we really do appreciate it.”

“it’s really no problem! although i doubt i’ll be able to come back,” _way to make it depressing, chenle._ “you guys are really good, though. i should be going now.” he had nearly made it two steps before one of them stopped him. 

“wait!” chenle turned and tried to hide how pleased he was that one of them stopped him. “um, in case you can’t come back,” aw, he’s blushing, “h-here’s my number. if you want it. um, my name is jisung, by the way.” jisung scratched his neck, handed chenle a paper and almost walked away before chenle could introduce himself. 

“chenle zhong. maybe don’t expect a text in the next few days. i’ll probably be grounded.” chenle grinned. what he had done hadn’t really settled in yet. the jokes were only serving to make light of a subject that his parents probably were extremely concerned about. “you should expect one eventually, though.” if the boy wasn’t blushing before, he definitely was now. and then chenle’s fun was ruined. 

“chenle zhong! get over here this instant!” oh no, he thought. he thought he’d be the one to go back and find the bodyguard. 

“um,” chenle said, so quiet jisung almost didn’t hear him. “bye. sorry to cause a scene.” he was leaving before any of the dancers could comprehend what just happened.

“you could have gotten in trouble,” the guard said when chenle reached him. “i told you not to leave the bench. you could get me fired. _fired,_ chenle, do you understand that? if your parents fire me, i’ll never find work again.”

“i’m sorry, i just wanted to see the city on my own. mom and dad never let me.”

“that doesn’t mean you're allowed to disobey. i know sometimes you may feel trapped, but your parents do all this stuff for your own good. being a politician may not be as life threatening as they make it out to be, but they’re worried about what people could do if they get a hold of you.” chenle didn’t say anything. what he did is finally catching up to him. he knew if he tried to talk he’d just end up crying instead. and he did. the whole thirty minute drive home. the bodyguard’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

at home he cried more. his parents yelled at the bodyguard, yelled at chenle, yelled at each other, and decided they’d fire the guard right there. chenle didn’t mean for someone to get in trouble because of him. he hadn’t even meant to get in trouble himself. he really was going to call the guard after he watched jisung’s performance. now he’ll never be able to go out. 

in a sense, donghyuck and chenle both right about what his parents would have. they did take the watch. but they also stuck their messed up ideas into chenle’s head, made him believe that everything they had to worry about was his fault, that he could never be the son they’d want him to be if he didn’t just do as he’s told. 

he supposed everything wasn’t too bad though. he could have parents that hit him. and he got to meet new people today. his parents hadn’t taken his phone so he could still text jisung. he hoped they could be friends so that running away hadn’t been for naught. 

after his parents had finally told him to go to his room because they couldn’t stand for him to be in their presence anymore, he took out his phone and texted jisung.

_me [10:34]_

_hey_

_this is chenle, i gave you like a hundred dollars today?_

_jisung the dancer not jisung my chem partner [10:47]_

_hey!! what’s up?_

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! kudos & comments make my day :^)
> 
> [tumblr](http://almond-mark.tumblr.com)


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